Area Blockbusters have closed their doors, locking up ahead of their expected ‘Best Used By’ date of Janurary 3rd.  A company press release in September indicated that the company may cut up to 960 stores nationwide by the end of next year.  A helpful ex-employee, James, informed us that Charlottesville’s three locations, Arlington, Abbey, & Rio Hill have all scuttled the brick and mortar shops as of 11:45AM yesterday (12/22).  Nearly insurmountable competition by Netflix seems to be the core culprit, while online streaming and cheaper distribution options were cited as well.

The current plan appears to indicate a ramp up of kiosk locations, in competition with the prevalent Redbox video rental machines owned by parent company Coinstar.

UNCUS reports that other local video stores Sneak Reviews, C’ville Video, Video Etc., and Universal Video all seem to be continuing the good fight, and are hopeful that the closings will keep them in the running a little longer.  [Photo Credits]

A birdie sends in a tip.. 

I heard someone say that they were closing ZydeCo.

Anyone know more? I always thought this place was doing pretty well. I can remember at least 2 other places that didn’t last in this building.

We just got two interesting sad telling depressing rumors about Charlottesville food businesses that appear to be dying.

First rumor about the potential closing of a town staple Crozet Pizza comes from a trusted Villain:

A friend just told me that Crozet Pizza may be closing down.  I don’t know anything more than that, but it thought it was a worthy note.

We wonder about this one, especially considering all the growth that is happening in Crozet.

The second rumor comes from a very reliable birdie that has always been right.  This time it appears Java Java is up on the auction block:

Java-Java is for sale. The economy has sent many a latte drinker to traditional coffee and since the mall has much more reasonable priced coffee (fair trade/organic small cup for .95 less than a block away…) they have suffered. First they kicked the milkman out and began making Sams club runs and some other stuff.

Not sure of the price, but since The Bean (at 225 sq feet) sold for 50K cash recently, some money might change hands…that is if he is still not upside down on his upfit.

Sad times indeed. Do we have any more info?

Couldn’t find this on your Food page, even after a site search, so I figured it was news to someone. I was over at Barracks Road and found a longtime Charlottesville institution, Casella’s Italian restaurant, closed and vacated. The sign on the window says, Tara Thai, which is the name of a fan-damn-tastic Thai restaurant in the Short Pump mall near Richmond. The couple of landlord-looking people inside, who unlocked the door and chatted briefly, confirmed that it’s those same owners. We can always use more delicious Thai food, I say!

[special thanks to the birdie who sent this in!]

A birdie just sent in this craigslist ad which puts the Italian Deli up for sale for $120,000 :

Italian Deli for sale on Main Street, in the heart of the UVA campus. Across from UVA Hospital. Great walk-in and catering business

We don’t know why this is for sale, but the rumor is Pacino’s didn’t make enough money.

/go figure

I wanted to make sure everyone saw cvilleMUSE’s coverage of the Satellite Ballroom closing.

It’s worth the read and very much a stellar article. Shaun, the author, concludes:

I am certain that there are a number of people working very hard behind-the-scenes to find an answer to Charlottesville’s current lack of a medium-sized concert hall.  Until that solution presents itself, what we can do as music fans in Charlottesville is get out there and support our local musicians and our existing music venues.  Their continued success is now more vital to our music scene than ever before.

Now, go check it out!

Heard this from a birdie this morning:

Satellite Ballroom’s lease won’t be renewed.  No clue on when it’s up, just that it’s over.  Wonder if Coran will put the push on finishing renovations at The Jefferson, to fill the void?  Came from another music person in town.  Trustworthy.

Who knows when this will happen or more deets to this rumor?